Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-05-05
Logic Is Logic.


The Legislature recently felt con-
strained to extend the time for the col
lection of taxes, although the State tax
is only four dollars on every one thou
sand dollars worth of property, or on
three hundred millions of dollars worth
OF real estate only twelve hundred
thousand dollars. Notwithstanding this
fact, our good friend Cox, of the Char
lotte (Va.) Gazette, does not hesitate
to declare that he still believes in the
theory that "the people of the coun-
try at large could afford to pay the
bonus to protected industries by di-
rect tax. and make money by the OPP
Grafton.
Well, then, each State would pay its
own share, and We may assume that
Virginia would have to pay-how many
millions, Brother Cox?
Certainly man who holds that theo-
~ ought TO oppose to the bitter end all
compromises on the tariff question. He
ought not to allow sumac, manufactured
tobacco, nor any other article to be pro-
tected by tariff, but ought to come
out in favor of free trade and direct
taxation. For the more money the
Federal Government raises by
tariff, the more oppressive is
the indirect tax upon the people.
It will not do to say that so long as the
Government needs three hundred
millions of revenue annually, we must
collect two hundred millions by pro-
tective tariff; for, according to our
friends theory, that is equivalent to
collecting indirectly thousand mil
lions of dollars year. Such wrong
should be righted at all hazards. And
surely the Government ought not to
collect five dollars indirectly rather
than one dollar directly and if not,
then it seems to us that our good friend
OF the Gazette ought TO come out for
direct taxation.
The Gazette says that the total value
Of all agricultural products in Virginia
is annually S45, 726,2 True; but
that includes wheat, barley, Indian
corn, and other articles, none OF which
supply the farmer or planter with any
money. II the people of Virginia pay
an indirect tax Of seventeen hundred
thousand dollars year, in consequence
of the existence of a protective tariff,
they pay it in money; for the Govern
ment receives nothing else and this
money must be made by the people of
Virginia in some way before they can
pay it out, whether directly to the
Government or indirectly to the Gov
eminent through the hands of the
merchant So the people can get this
large sum, as wehave heretofore shown,
only from leaf tobacco, the whole crop
of which is valued at about five and a
half millions of dollars. or else from
manufactures of various sorts sold out
of the State. How the people of Vir-
ginia, coming out of the war PENN
less, have managed in the last twenty
years to pay three hundred and twenty
millions of dollars out OF the profits of
crops and manufactures whose profits
did not exceed in that time one hun
bred and fifty millions of dollars is be-
yond our powers of computation.
The Gazette'S opinion is that it is
entirely within bounds to assume
that each family of five persons will |
buy ON the average $40 of protected |
articles each year Facts and figures |
are stubborn things, old friend. Let |
us see what your figures signify. There |
are ten millions of families of five per-
sons each in the United States. If |
each OF these ten-million groups |
buy every year on an average |
$40 of protected articles, all of
them must buy l40 times ten millions |
worth, or fourteen hundred millions
worth Considering that including
every article that paid over 500, 900 |
the total imports entered for consump-
ton in 1856 were valued at only $685.
sos, 8l3 and that of these S2ll, $50, 759
were free Of duty, and only Si13, 49,
054 paid any duty, whether protective
or not, We must confess that we do not
understand how our good friend can
find that our people buy annually four
teen hundred millions Of dollars worth
OF protected articles, or three times the
sum total Of the value of all the arti-
cles imported which pay duties, whether
protective or not. Won't you revise
your figures, good friend, and see il
you have not made q mistake some
where?
Our friends figures surprise us 30
much that we are afraid we have mis-
understood the Gazette! II so, let him
furnish us with his revised estimates
andwe will publish the same with great
pleasure.
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